Storyline: Stewart-Haas Racing will have its best season yet. I predict three of the four cars will make the chase…maybe all four. Written by Peyton Hook, Galesburg, IL.
Stewart-Haas Racing will be entering its ninth season this year. With Kevin Harvick driving the #4 Chevy, Tony Stewart driving the #14 Chevy, Danica Patrick driving the #10 Chevy and, Kurt Busch driving the #41 Chevy all four should be in the chase.
Courtesy: Onallcylinders.com
Tony Stewart: “Smoke” will retire at season’s end and he needs to return to form before his career is over. Smoke hasn’t had a top-five finish since a 4th place finish at Martinsville in the 2014 Chase race. Smoke wants to win the Daytona 500 and Southern 500 at Darlington, two of the biggest tracks in Motorsports history. Smoke wants to make a run at a fourth title, too. He wants to have more top-fives and top-tens like his teammates, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. Tony is also getting a new crew chief this season and that means good things for Smoke fans. Heck, Tony is even on a diet and is exercising. That proves that Smoke wants to have his best season in his last season. Now that everything is past him, Tony should be the old Tony that we know and love. I’m a huge Smoke fan and I know Smoke can be on top again. Tony doesn’t want to be the worst points-finishing driver this season for the team he started; he wants to be first for the team and NASCAR.
Courtesy: nascar.com
Kevin Harvick: Harvick needs to keep it up. He has been the best in NASCAR for SHR. Let’s face it, Harvick has kicked some ass! His good friend and boss, Tony Stewart, promised that if he joined SHR he would be a title contender. He kept that promise. Harvick has led the most laps in the last two seasons, something he needs to continue. His success has been the best on cookie-cutter tracks and at Phoenix as of late. Harvick needs to continue to win races and pick up top-five and top-ten finishes constantly. Harvick will be in the chase this year and will have to be perfect to beat his boss.
Kurt Busch: Busch will have to be a lot better this season to top last year’s performance. He won 2 races (first time he had won twice or more since 2011), had 10 top-fives (most since 2013), and 21 top-tens (tied his season-best for the third time in his career and the most since 2009). He looked like the Kurt Busch we have saw “in the old days.” He led 788 laps (the most since 2010), which was very impressive. He even had a career-best starting average of 10.1 and a career-best average finish of 11.1. It seems that SHR has been the best for both Busch and Harvick. Kurt will have to win a race this year and lead a lot of laps just like last year. He will make the chase.
Courtesy: autotechreviews.com
Danica Patrick: Patrick will need to do better this season. She needs to be more consistent and win a race, too. Those accomplishments would show the world that a female can win races, and it would also limit criticism she gets from NASCAR fans. She needs to get at least 10 top-tens this year. That will be hard, but she has the equipment to do it. She needs to win so she can make the chase. Tony Stewart has a lot of faith in her and knows Danica is a great driver. But she needs to learn how to control her temper, be more “chill,” and focus on what she’s doing. She has a new crew chief in Billy Scott and that will help. I predict she’ll win a race this season and lock herself into a chase berth.
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Stewart-Haas Racing will have their best season yet in ’16. I predict at least three of the four cars will make the chase this season, but maybe all four might make. That would be impressive!
